My dog gone cuckoo!!

pinklover

My dog Hanzo- a 1.5 years old Japanese Akita Inu have just developed some behaviour problems which is very worrying. We have him since he is puppy of 13 weeks and never ever have any problems with him regarding housetraining or any abnormal/ anxiety issues. He get walk everyday religiously twice for 1 hour each, so well excerised.

Me and my husband both work full time but becos he is in the army, he pops in the house every full hours to see them (second dog is a shih tzu mixed) and they've been fine all the time we had him apart from last week when Hanzo destroyed the house, first he let himself out from the back door (which we forgot to lock), just across to neighbour's garden and ate all their leftover meat together with the plastic bags!, neighbout brought him back (live in barracks, so very safe and secure that way!) Then hubby keep him inside, came home to find he torn all the curtains down, trying to escaped but failed, opened the fridge and ate more food, then poo in the house cos of diarroea!!:(

This morning I let him out for wee wee in garden as soon as I woke up like I've done every day, 10 mins after I got dress, I couldn't find him in the garden as he escape again by jumping the fence:mad: (fence is very high already but he still manage!) So, shoes on and as I was going to look for him, opened front door and there he was!! (he just decided to wander the block from the neighbour's garden!!) Now, again he has never ever done that before!

So, we're very worry with his sudden erratic behaviour but after some research, I've narrowed down to a few possible causes:

1) He recently had the rabies vaccine a few weeks ago (as we're moving to Germany) and from my research one of the side effect can be behaviour changes i.e. destructive behaviour, chewing stuff, anxiety issues a few weeks after the jab..so far can't seem to find any treatment.

2) As he still not been castrated, could it be that other dog nearby is in heat and trigger this action of going near her? (I asked the neighbour and he confirm their dog is in heat at the moment)

3) Because he ate the dogdy meat from the neighbour, it could be that he just had bad diarreoa and becos he was locked inside the house, he is trying to escape and not do it in the house? (He has always been clean, never once do it in the house even when he was puppy as he know he shouldn't)

Well, we think that it has a lot to do with him not being castrated as he is quite dominant and mark everything he come across on walks! We booked him immediately to the vet for the op but when we got their yesterday, Vet recommend not to do it until his tummy settles..just wondering if anyone have similar experience or advice?!

foreign_correspondent

The neighbours b1tch being in heat could explain a lot - male can smell a b1tch in heat from up to six miiles away, and many will escape by any means to wander and try and find a b1tch to mate with - its quite a common reason for males wandering, being involved in road traffic accidents etc.

His tummy should soon be settled - but it looks like you are going to have to supervise him closely till he can go to the vets.. however, it takes a few weeks for the hormone levels to begin to change, so you wont see an immediate difference - may be worth asking the vet whether chemical castration may be useful as a stop gap, till he can be done, and his hormones settle.. I dont know how long it takes to kick in...

pinklover

Thanks! I really hope it has been caused by other female dogs..as the rabies vaccine side effect would have been worrying as it'll be hard to find a cure!

I will book him in for Monday as he poo poo seems to be back to normal. I wouldn't expect miracles right away as you mentioned earlier but will be glad that hopefully the marking problem will also reduce in the long run as walking him can be a pain having to stop at every tree or bushes!

threemuttleys

dont mean to be picky...but he will stop and pee/sniff etc at every tree etc, because you let him...mine are not allowed to "mark" in this way, because as you say takes forever and 5,000 years to get anywhere. That will not change because of castration, but because you need to train him to not do it (OBV, if dog is stopping because he needs to wee/poo then fair enough, and sniffing/marking is allowed when off lead at the walk area..if that makes sense..im not totally mean!)

eta; very jealous that you are going to Germany, my dad was RAF, and we spent a lot of our childhood over there. Lovely place, and lovely people...any room for one more?

Also if you have kids, you really really HAVE to go to Duinrell (wassenaar, Holland)

foreign_correspondent

until the b1tch next door is properly past her season I would only take him into the garden on-lead, as he will find a way ut otherwise - and you could end up trying to deal with the consequences of an unplanned mating.

threemuttleys

totally agree with FC x

pinklover

Well, I'm afraid there could well be an unplan mating already!! What happend was before all this happened, on Monday last week(I think), as I got home from work, I find my little Gizmo (shih tzu) out in the garden together with neighbour's dog (the dog who could be in heat then!) and Hanzo was nowhere to be seen! So, I called him a few times in my garden and he then jump from neighbour's fence and back to ours! So, basically they did a swap!! So, God knows what they've been upto before I got back?!?!

It's both of our fault really, cause next door's dog escaped and so was ours..hmm accidents happened!:p

As for markings, I've read that you shouldn't stop a dog marking as if he is desperate and weren't given a chance to do it outside, they could do it indoor!! I do admit that I should say no prehaps more than I did though. (I'm improving!) The trouble is he will only recall by my husband so he can let him off lead without problems but he is so stubborn and won't come back to me, so I've to put him on lead all the time (especially now!)..which means a lot of stop start when he mark his place! I will be firmer, promised!

Yep, really looking forward to Germany! Heard lots of nice things and have been there many times..so should be fine! But regarding dogs etc, it looks like more of a stricter setting certainly from the Army regulations compare to in the UK.

loulou123

With my last dog he used to mark every tree, lamp post, bush, even the odd horses leg if it stood still long enough (we lived in the country ) and it never even occurred to me to try and stop him, as i figured that he was just marking his walking route and he'd have a damn good sniff at the same time so i kind of thought of him catching up on all the doggie news!

mrcol1000

threemuttleys wrote: »

dont mean to be picky...but he will stop and pee/sniff etc at every tree etc, because you let him...mine are not allowed to "mark" in this way, because as you say takes forever and 5,000 years to get anywhere. That will not change because of castration, but because you need to train him to not do it (OBV, if dog is stopping because he needs to wee/poo then fair enough, and sniffing/marking is allowed when off lead at the walk area..if that makes sense..im not totally mean!)



Also if you have kids, you really really HAVE to go to Duinrell (wassenaar, Holland)

If we stopped our dogs from doing stuff that was a bit annoying like stopping them from marking terrority we would also stop them from jumping on the sofa, stop them from jumping on us in bed at 5am to say good morning, stop them destroying the soft toy they have been given as a toy, stop them from wanting to go out to toilet just as its started to rain heavy, stop them from licking their bits in public and then it would be a bit pointless having a dog.
Get an extendable lead and let them enjoy their walk. Dogs need mental simulation as well as physical simulation on their walks.

bramble1

pinklover wrote: »

It's both of our fault really, cause next door's dog escaped and so was ours..hmm accidents happened!:p
.

I hope your neighbour has taken their dog for a mismate jab

pinklover

Well, I try to warn them yesterday about possible accidents..they seem to not be taking it very serious at all, just jokingly said they'll said me the pics of their puppies (as they're moving in a month's time)..not sure why though as if it were me, I'll definitely take her to the vet and have they check her out before it's too late!

Hanzo's mischief continues in the form of eating most of our food from the fridge! We forgot about the fact that he managed to open the fridge door and left him in the house just for an hour or so, went back and see half of my raw chicken in the sitting room!! Seems like once he learn a trick, he can't stop doing it!

Anyway, he is now book for his castration op for tomorrow morning..no doubt he'll be in pain and grumpy afterwards but it's for the best!